Business Events Sydney establishes digital presence in China

After more than 10 years’ active in-market representation in China, Business Events Sydney (BESydney) will deepen its engagement with one of New South Wales’ most valuable business and tourism markets with today’s launch of a locally-hosted in-language website and popular Chinese social accounts.

From today, clients in China will have all the information they need for a spectacular harbour city event at their fingertips, with four new ways to connect with Sydney – via website, WeChat, Weibo and Youku.

China is fast growing and extremely important for Sydney. In the last five years, BESydney has enjoyed 20 per cent year-on-year growth in business from Asia, which now accounts for about half of all business secured and delivered. And, business from China accounts for about half of total business from the region.

The value of the Chinese market is also recognised at a state and national level. NSW Premier Mike Baird has just spent four days leading a business delegation to Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai to explore opportunities under the recently formulated China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), making it his second official visit to the country since taking office in March and reinforcing the market’s importance to the state.

BESydney CEO Lyn Lewis-Smith said the website and social tools were the latest additions to the company’s ongoing and active strategy to engage with China and demonstrated the bureau’s commitment to the region. These assets, in conjunction with local representatives and a Key Distribution Partner network, will enable the bureau to strengthen existing connections, create new and meaningful relationships, and maximise engagement opportunities.

“We have learned a lot in the past decade about doing business in this part of the world – in fact we continue to learn. Relationships are paramount. We have invested, and we continue to invest, in nurturing and building strong business relationships in the region,” said Ms Lewis-Smith.

“This has been an extensive project for the organisation. We have worked really hard to define the needs of this market and to create a website and social presence that is in line with how our clients work and communicate in China. Our research shows that China is one of the most digitally connected and socially engaged markets in the world, with growth in the number of active internet users up six per cent (or 36 million new users) over the 12 months to July 2015 and with more social media users than the USA and Europe combined1.

“This vital infrastructure will provide a much more convenient and effective platform for Chinese clients to connect with us, with fast web loading speeds and an opportunity to easily search, locate and consume information about Sydney through China’s largest search engine – Baidu.”

Established in 2000, Baidu is China’s Google equivalent and enjoys around 80 per cent market share in the country2. In September 2015, the search engine reported almost 650 million monthly active mobile search users, an increase of 26% year on year3.

To date, up to A$113 million of corporate incentive events have already been secured by BESydney for 2016 and 2017, including Nu Skin Greater China Success Trip 2016 and Amway China 2017.

BESydney was the first Australian convention bureau to establish a local presence in China in 2004 and believes it is now one of the first to market with a fully dedicated in-language digital presence.

Business Events Sydney (BESydney) is the convention bureau for Sydney and New South Wales (NSW). A not-for-profit organisation, supported by the NSW Government and an extensive event supplier network, the bureau provides unbiased free-of-charge services and support for anyone interested in bringing a convention, conference or incentive reward program to Sydney and NSW.